Naivasha to Masai Mara is a little over 200 kilometers away and Danielle, our guide cum driver, told us that we’d be good if we started immediately after breakfast. Said, would take about a 4-5 hour drive, and we’d be on time for lunch at Masai Mara. And so, after exploring our nice little resort, Sopa Resorts, early in the morning and then, after a sumptuous breakfast, we bade Naivasha bye-bye.
Once again, we were amazed by the quality of the roads…smooth as butter, we went past the extinct Mount Longonot and many little towns and hamlets. Cutting through acres and acres of cultivated land made ready for sowing, Danielle announced that we were passing by the region which is regarded as the ‘Wheat Basket’ of Kenya. Narok. And then, as you drive further in, you notice how the topography changes – trees giving way to bushes, and soon after, bushes giving way to shrubs and grasses…
About a little more than 3 hours into the drive, we came upon ‘the end of the road’ Well, actually, the end of the good road. Now started the stretch that was just soil and stones. A complete departure from the drive we had had so far, I particularly dreaded the stretch for the dust. But soon realized that there is no dust raised when you are alone, well, virtually alone, and sitting on a massive war-like jeep that almost cruised through despite the absence of roads. Ah! This is an orientation of what to expect. Silly, don’t you realize the grasslands have no roads? we scolded ourselves. This was the beginning of the big adventure, and we were, as usual, the wide-eyed explorers gearing up to savour it all….